Indo-US CEO Forum to review progress on boosting biz ties

India and the US will review on Tuesday at the CEO Forum the progress made so far on deliberations such as boosting renewable energy and defence ties and smart city project, and also discuss the roadmap to achieve the objectives.

Besides, the two sides are likely to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship, various other policies and measures to further trade ties between both the countries.

The forum's meeting will take place as part of the second Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) here.

It will review the status on the action taken on the recommendations submitted by the forum in its two meetings held in 2015 and make fresh recommendations for strengthening investment opportunities between India and the US.

Cyrus Mistry, Chairman of Tata Group, will co-chair the meeting from Indian side, and Dave Cote, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell International from the US side.

"The discussions are expected to take place regarding smart city master planning activities for three cities Ajmer, Allahabad and Vizag -- for which an MoU has been signed between India and the US," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

In line with the CEO Forum recommendations to boost the renewable energy sector, the both sides are working on the US-India Energy Finance Initiatives, which is expected to mobilise upto $400 million by 2020.

"Similarly both sides are expected to discuss the possibilities for collaboration in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship and also exchange information and best practices relating to improving ease of doing business," the statement added.

To ease the defence production procedures, the India has introduced a new 'Defence Procurement Procedure' which has made it much simpler to take advantage of the immense opportunity for defence production in India.

Both countries will also discuss possibilities regarding collaboration between India's National Physical Laboratory and BIS and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the US -- relating to reference material production (RMP), metrological standards, physical and mechanical standards.

These efforts are aimed at ensuring adherence to international quality requirements for a range of products.

In their deliberation last year, the two sides had agreed on four work streams to facilitate economic development initiatives -- infrastructure collaboration and smart cities, ease of doing business, innovation and entrepreneurship and standards.